Sit back, relax and give reason a chance….

Those who think that Pakistan is not their preferred destination for making investment should sit back, relax and give reason a chance. They should have a second thought and see if they can do any better if they chose to take their money elsewhere to places like India who claims to be a fast growing economy. India’s most dreaded news magazine, Tehelka has a different story to tell. It says that India may be thumping its chest for being the second fastest growing economy and being one of the few countries that was relatively unscathed by the global economic downturn. But when it comes to doing business, it fares worse than most neighbors, including archrival Pakistan.

According to a report titled Doing Business 2011: Making a Difference for Entrepreneurs prepared by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, India is 134 in a ranking relating to the ease of doing business, while Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal are ranked 83, 102, 107 and 116, respectively. China is ranked 79. Among its neighbors, Bhutan, ranked 142, is the only country ranked below India.

Worse, among the nine parameters based on which countries have been ranked, India’s position has declined in five and shown improvement on only three fronts. It has been able to maintain status quo on only one of the yardsticks. India has shown improvement in terms of paying taxes, starting a business and closing a business, while it has slipped on the counts of dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors and trading across borders.

“India is one of the most preferred destinations for investments in the world today and is likely to remain so for next few years,” said DK Joshi, chief economist at credit rating agency and industry tracker Crisil Ltd. “As far as reasons for India being ranked so low in terms of ease of doing business, this could be because of procedural hassles, time taken in approvals, among others. The pace of reforms, too, is slower than anticipated and all these factors results in lower ranking,” Joshi added.